Oracle Pumps Up Volume of Wireless Voice Technology
By Robert Conlin, Wireless.NewsFactor.com
Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL - news) has thrown its considerable weight behind voice technology, announcing that its 9i Application Server Wireless will become the first in the industry to offer integrated voice support for use with any interface. Oracle added that it intends for voice support to become a key component of its E-Business Suite, Mobile Online Studio and JDeveloper products.
The company said it has forged alliances with many of the voice industry's leading companies and has opened a voice technology development center in Chicago to accelerate technology advancements and to test third-party technology before deploying it with its software.
The Redwood Shores, California-based company did not downplay the potential impact of its stepped-up use of voice technology, saying its "broad commitment to support voice access to information will accelerate the acceptance of voice technology in the corporate enterprise."
United Voices
"Earlier approaches to voice technology treated voice as a stand-alone access method," said Denise Lahey, chief executive of OracleMobile. "However, true value is derived from the ability to access the same information from any access point, be it Web, wireless or voice. With the combined capabilities of our partners' technologies with Oracle9i Application Server Wireless, we will be able to deliver the most complete wireless and voice solutions available."
Oracle said it is working with several companies to deliver applications that take voice technology beyond its current limited use as a tool for customer contact centers and telecommunications carriers.
Specifically, the company is working with Nuance and SpeechWorks on automatic speech recognition and text-to-speech technologies; with General Magic, Intel, Motorola, VoiceGenie and Verascape on voice gateways and telephony platforms; and with Vail Systems on voice hosting.
Future Plans
Stressing that voice technology provides an ideal complement to wireless data, freeing users from having to operate a keyboard at inopportune times, Oracle said it will make future improvements to its 9i server to make e-commerce, field sales, field service and business intelligence voice-ready.
The software giant said it will offer access to voice mail in a future release of its 9i server with its Unified Messaging product. Oracle also noted that many applications on the personalized pages of My Oracle at Oracle.com will be available via a voice interface.
The voice technology industry must be heartened by Oracle's public commitment to adopting the channel. But for some companies, like HearMe, which announced this week that it is halting operations, and Lipstream and Firetalk -- two voice-over-Internet-protocol providers that shut down earlier this year -- the news comes too late to help.
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